Thinksound OV21

Specifications:
45mm dynamic drivers with a 5Hz to 22kHz frequency response. 99±3dB at 1KHz 1mW sensitivity and 50Ω impedance.

First thing noticed is the packaging is Environmentally friendly and I appreciate that, opening it up one sees the walnut housing of these really good-looking headphones. Both the 2 cables one with and one without a microphone and the headphones have a nice cloth pouch to keep them in.
The headphones are lightweight but sturdy being made of metal and wood with a little plastic. They are very comfortable as the pads are plush and the headband as well.

Sound:
Bass:
Presents with good speed and nice tight punch. Bass is more quality than quantity but is still very present and sub bass has a good rumble just a fast roll off. Mid Bass is impactful but more towards the warmish neutral side. Overall Bass has good energy and control.

Mids:
Upper mids have a little emphasis and are a little spicy particularly with poor recording and female vocals. Lower Mids are a little warm and male vocals sounded good and natural. Mids overall sound clear and pleasant with a slightly forward position in front of the instruments.

Treble:
Presents very open and airy with sparkle and details, While they have a good extension and energy they never got harsh or fatiguing in my opinion.

Soundstage:
One of the OV21's strong points is the excellent wide open soundstage for a closed back this is unexpected, the soundstage is wide and has good depth and height as well as great imaging and lairing, prefect for mobile gaming.

Conclusion: I was impressed with the overall performance, The OV21 is well made comfortable and sounds great. The price puts it in a very competitive area. Still I do like them and think they have a place due to their uniqueness .

Intro
Thinksound’s OV21 is a closed back over ear headphone, the outer part of the cup is made of wood and within it houses a 45mm dynamic driver. As a whole, thinksound is a company who cares about good sound and also sustainability, the plastics on the headphone are made of bioplastics with Eastmen Treva.

Packaging
The packaging is bare minimal as I believe this is due to sustainability. It came with two types of cable, one with a microphone and another one without. A cloth storage pouch for the cables and also the headphone itself. The overall packaging I would describe as being simple and clean, yet functional.
Personally i preferred if it comes with a hard carrying case to store the headphone as it offers more protection than a cloth storage pouch

Build/Comfort
Build quality of OV21 is solid and there isn’t any creaking sound from the plastics nor it looks flimsy at all. As mentioned earlier, the outer part of the cup is made of wood and what’s special about it is that not every pair of OV21 will look the same due to pattern and colour variation from the wood.

The clamping force is average and fits snuggly on my head, the earpads are memory foam earpads and it is very soft and doesn’t cause any discomfort even after a long listening session. Getting a good seal is also crucial for the bass response. The earpads are easily replaceable as they are attached using some magnetic pad. However, I have also spoken to thinksound’s rep on the possibility of using a third party earpad, as long as the measurement is suitable for OV21, there shouldn't be any issue fitting it. I will update this section once they get back to me with the measurements.

Source
Windows 11 Tidal -> Chord Mojo -> Thinksound OV21
Windows 11 Tidal -> iFi iDSD Nano Black Lable -> Thinksound OV21
iPod Touch 4th Gen -> Thinksound OV21
iPhone 12 Mini Apple Music -> Apple Lightning Dongle -> Thinksound OV21

Sound
Let me begin by saying that upon putting them on and listening to them for the first time, I didn't like it at all. It was bright and the bass was lean, and so I've decided to let them burn in for a little while before listening to them again. To my surprise, the sound does change over time and the brightness is slightly toned down and the bass has got more slams compared to the first listen. So, I've put them through for about 50-60 hours and used them for a month plus prior to writing this review. This is to ensure that my impression/thoughts are as neutral as possible.

OV21 is quite neutral to my ears. The tonality of OV21 is leaning towards neutral bright.
The timbre is slightly dry to my preference, but is quite accurate overall. I find OV21 to be quite sensitive to source change, in the sense where the sound can be colored by different source, for example, on my iPod Touch 4th Gen, the bass on the OV21 is slightly boosted and the top end is slightly smoother, where as on iFi iDSD Nano Black Label, i would say it is slightly reference sounding with a fast and tight bass and plenty of details on the top end.

Bass

• Bass on the OV21 is fast and tight, do not expect basshead level of bass performance, OV21 is nothing like that
• Sub bass will rumble when its called for, but it is lacking in extension
• The bass performance of OV21 is very good for songs like Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Slipknot’s Duality, Mastodon’s Pushing the Tides where the bass is fast enough to not cause the track to be become muddy
• I personally preferred the bass to have a little bit more in terms of quantity, but that’s just my preference
• Overall, i would say the bass performance is audiophile kind of bass response where it is not boosted but rather flat

Mids

• Male vocal has got average texture to it, not too dry sounding
• Female vocal lacks a little warmth hence sounding a little bit dry, but not to the point where it deters you from enjoying female vocal track
• It could be from the slightly boosted upper mids, you get plenty of details but some instruments could came off a little fatiguing such as cymbal splash

Treble

• Treble response is smooth and not harsh
• It is very airy and its full of details, i personally think that this is the strong point of OV21
• Micro details are very good and you don’t really have to try very hard to listen to the sound of certain faint instruments

Soundstage/imaging

• The soundstage is also part of OV21’s strong point. For a closed back headphone, it definitely doesn’t sound like one given the soundstage performance
• The soundstage has got a good depth and width, it doesn’t sound in your head nor too artificially wide
• Imaging is also good as instruments can be pinpointed easily and left right transition for HRTF is also very good

Drivability

• OV21 is very easy to drive, you can get good listening volume straight out of headphone jack from your phone
• It does benefit from a better source, a warmer source in particular to slightly tame the top end for those who are sensitive to treble
• Straight out of 4th gen iPod touch gives a very good listening experience as well, you can get a good listening experience from any device in my experience
• It doesn’t really benefit much from amping based on my experience, the sound doesn’t really change much

Final Thoughts
OV21 is not some headphone where you first listened and you get the “WOW” moment, it is a headphone that you will grow to love over time, at least for me. As mentioned earlier, I didn't like it at all upon listening to it after I unboxed it.

I believe I am fair and have used this headphone for more than a month plus prior to writing this review instead of writing the review one week after listening to it. If I had written the review back then, it wouldn’t be fair to OV21 as I didn't give them a proper listening session. The timbre is good and natural, not to mention the soundstage and imaging capability. The only thing that I find lacking is the bass.

Will I recommend OV21? Yes, and only if you are someone who is not sensitive to treble and not a basshead, if you like analytical sound and flat bass, OV21 is for you.

If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to thinksound’s store!

*I received OV21 from thinksound in exchange for my review, i covered the shipping and taxes only. My thoughts are exactly of mine and I am not influenced by thinksound in any way to produce this review.

*Pictures will be attached on my website

Introduction:
thinksound is a company based in Canada that produces portable audio gears. They started in 2009 and got known for using wood housing in their products. 12 years later, the ov21 is launched, which is thinksound's first over-ear headphones. In addition to wood, all plastic components of the ov21 are made of Eastman Trēva, a bioplastic created from sustainable wood pulp that, according to thinksound, "reduces resonance, distortion, and improves acoustic performance". The ov21 currently retails for 400 USD, and was provided to me for free by thinksound in exchange for this review.

International purchase link

Specifications:
Driver unit: 45 mm dynamic
Impedance: 50 ohms
Sensitivity: not specified
Frequency response range: 5 Hz - 22 kHz

Source:
Poco X3 paired with FiiO KA3, iBasso DC03, Shanling UA1, Tempotec Sonata E35 and Zishan U1

Test tracks:
Africano - Earth Wind and Fire
Dark Necessities - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Gurenge - Lisa
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Monsters - All Time Low
Ours - Taylor Swift
Stay - Mayday Parade
Snuff - Slipknot
Yesterday Once More - Carpenters
So Slow - Freestyle
Aurora Sunrise - Franco
Attention - Pentatonix
Blue Bird - Ikimono-gakari
You're Still The One - Shania Twain
Anyone Who Knows What Love Is(Will Understand) - Irma Thomas
Salamin - Slapshock
AOV - Slipknot
Hey Jude - The Beatles
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
...and a lot more.

Unboxing and Accessories:
The ov21 comes in a large, sleeved box. Upon removing the sleeve and the top lid, you will see the headphones and other accessories wrapped in a honeycomb wrapper and paper string. Inside, there are two drawstring pouches. The bigger one contains the headphones, while the smaller one contains two cables and a female 3.5 mm to male 6.35 mm adapter. There is also a small instruction manual. The unboxing experience here feels very organic, and you can tell that all materials used are recycled or recyclable.

Build:
The headband is made of metal with plastic edges. It has a thick and soft leather padding with the thinksound logo at the top portion. The yokes are made of metal. The earcups are made of plastic and has six holes in each side at the top portion that acts as ventilation. Beside the vents, there is a small rubber piece that prevents the earcups from grinding onto the metal yokes. The faceplates are made of walnut wood and also sport the thinksound logo. The earpads, just like the headband pads, are thick yet very soft. It is glued to a plastic piece that attaches to the earcups through a magnet.

There are two cables included. One with a microphone with a single button control and one without. They have average thickness and moderately soft, and sleeved with Kevlar fabric. The 3.5 mm gold plated plugs are made of plastic.

Now let's get to the sound.

Lows:
The lows have a tiny bit of elevation. Subbass is slightly more forward than the midbass, and those really low vibrations can be felt. The depth is excellent, yet the amount of rumble is at just the right spot as well as the decay. Midbass seems to be neutral, having adequate thickness and impact.

Overall, the ov21 does not overwhelm you with the quantity of its lows, but the ability of its drivers to output very low frequencies is praiseworthy.

Mids:
The mids are placed at the center of the stage. The mids feel airy, spacious and with great clarity. Lower mids are slightly thin, and then there is an obvious boost in the upper mids. This results in rare occasions of female vocals being slightly shouty, and lead guitars feeling a tad aggressive at times.

Overall, there are instances where the mids can become marginally uncomfortable. Nevertheless, vocals and instruments sound crisp, well-defined and have great transparency. It feels like a change in the headphone pads can reduce the peaks.

Highs:
The highs have an excellent level of crunch and shimmer. Treble reach and its decay is above average. Cymbals and guitar solos sound very energetic and lively. However, the highs doesn't reach the point where it becomes painfully piercing, but a slight sibilance is noticeable in some tracks.

Overall, this is the strongest point of the ov21's sound. The amount of detail, air, and clarity in this section is just simply remarkable.

Soundstage and Imaging:
Remember that the ov21 is a closedback headphone, but the soundstage is huge. The width has a bit more expansion than the height. It gives off that holographic vibe to the music without feeling unnatural or artificial. The accuracy and transparency of the imaging is superb. Instruments are nicely separated and layered, and congestion is non-existent especially in well recorded tracks.

Conclusion:
The thinksound ov21 is an excellent pair of cans that is for those who aim for a natural sound with bits of added energy and excitement in the mids and highs. Additional points for thinksound being environmentally friendly with the materials that they used. The ov21 is not free from flaws, but without a doubt, its technical performance is its trump card against others.

Thinksound OV21

Headphones in the industry have evolved but your tried and true dynamic headphone will be the mainstay of the scene and today I am going to share some extremely good news regarding a particular brand and headphone that will garner some serious interest among old timers here at headfi and abroad. We are talking about Thinksound who has mostly done IEMs in the past and came up with a few intriguing on ear headphones their previosus offering the ON2 which was arguably one of their best sounding phones to date which got a lot of folks wondering when will Thinksound ever come out with a full sized can.

News came out last year that Thinksound was out of business at one point. But these guys can’t be finished! There is no way no how they were finished with designing a full sized Can. Fast forward to today and Thinksound is back in business with the designer creator tuner extraordinaire Aaron Fournier introducing some new products. They have returned to form with a new IEM in the IN20 reviewed here. Their new OV21 for many will be an introduction to Aarons handy work and a headphone that represents years of his know-how with a distinctive Thinksound house sound.

As an admitted IEM guy I do dab in the headphone game and own my share of cans I use here and there. The OV21 is a circumaural closed can with wood cups and what makes this particular Can something to pay attention to is that these were in the works for a while from what I know. In fact I remember Aaron telling me about these a few years back before the business had a temporary closure. Just know Thinksound will be producing new items people need to pay attention to. These folks are here to stay and their newest is their best effort to date.

The build
The classic overhead closed back looks of the OV21 is solid all around. You can’t make a Thinksound can without wood. So the outer portion of the cups are made of wood and the plastic portion is a bioplastic made from sustainable wood pulp that helps reduce resonance, distortion and helps acoustic properties for the sound. If you don’t know, Aaron and the crew have always used sustainable materials for all their goods. This is something they champion and with today's drastic climate changes. You gotta respect a company that considers how their items impact the planet. Onto the build. The arms are metal and the headband and pads are using a cushy type foam to help with comfort and isolation.

There is a moderate clamp but nothing that will push your eyeballs out. The fit is snug on my medium sized noggin and I am certain this design will fit most heads just fine with comfort unless your head is melon like in size. It's very sturdy with a solid build, but at the same time I would not necessarily throw the cans around. No creaks or external noise from the cup swivels to detract you from listening. With normal use scenarios the cans should last years for your music enjoyment.

I can tell they took their time to come up with a tight comfortable design for using over the head.
For folks that have seen or own Shure cans the design here reminds me of them, similar in size and shape to the SRH1540. The soft cushy pads help conform to head sizes and shapes which also helps with the passive isolation. They fit tight yet comfortable at the same time. It has a single ended 3.5mm output on the left side of the cups and comes with two cables. One with a mic so you can carry on conversations and listen to music on your phones the other is for audio only. A carry drawstring pouch finishes off the package for the retail version. My preview unit cable with just the mic'd cord.

The OV21 unit I have here is a pre production unit that I will be sending back to Thinksound after my review. If you feel you must own the latest cutting edge headphones from Thinksound. You can order you a set and read more about them here.

Sound.
Here is the reason why you're reading this review. You want to know how these sound. I can say for fans of previous Thinksound earphones and their ON1 and ON2s. Imagine what all them nice woody earphones and on ears would sound like using a much larger 45mm dynamic driver in a full sized closed can with Aaron tuning all of it and you’re almost there. I know folks have been waiting for Thinksound to produce a full sized can for a while including yours truly. The new OV21 delivers a type of sound you would imagine a full sized Thinksound can deliver. Its tuning is a variation of the V shaped fr and reminds me of their older rain earphones in tuning but more grander in scope, more dynamic and way more refined.

A full size can deserve a full sized sound. Thinksound products are never analytical by nature, always musical and use natural wood as a catalyst for the tonal character of their phones. This does not change with the OV21. These were clearly made for modern genres of music and has a distinct musical take on headphone sound quality. These were clearly made for being out and about so they are more portable in the type of usage with a 50 ohm rating. Efficient enough to use even on a phone but scales nicely with higher end audio players and amps.

Sound evaluation was done using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Fiio K3 2021, IFI Black label and IBasso PB3 for amping.

Thinksound is a bit on the old school when it comes to sound tuning which is not a bad thing. And their tunings are distinctly western in nature meaning you're not going to get too much upper mid or too much treble like a lot of Eastern made cans and IEMs presents. If you have ever heard one of their earphones or cans you will notice a distinct trait among all their phones and that is that they never sacrifice musicality in their sound tunings. The first time I put them on and heard what they were about, put a huge grin on my face. It took Aaron and the crew a long time for them to make a full sized can and you can tell they toiled over this one. That rich woody timbre is in full effect and with a level of dynamism that is unlike any Thinksound before it. Absolute superb timbre and a rich smooth warmer tonal character from vocals to instruments. It's a grand sounding Thinksound product of the likes I have yet to hear from them, in other words it came out exactly how I imagined a full sized Thinksound product could sound like and more.

Trebles
Trebles is presented with an even calmness about it that shows great detail without fatigue. You can’t expect an airy treble performance from a closed can but the trebles show a great balancing of presence and brilliance. Everything from Jazz pop rock to EDM trebles here is crisp, clean, extends well with a proper shimmer and sparkles when called for. Rangy and detailed without undue fatigue. The treble shows mastery of control and presence. I don’t perceive any weird treble spikes to fatigue or an overexaggerated portion of treble which can cause an off tonal character.

The cans overall tonal quality is decidedly rich with a natural warmth due to a full bass end being featured for the bold sound tuning on the OV21. Treble emphasis is just ever so slightly above in emphasis over the mids presentation so the bulk of the balancing is quite even from lower trebles to the upper mids. Its well established balancing bodes extremely well for a huge variety of music genres you listen to. Treble has a clean rangy tonal character just like how the mids are portrayed. While the bulk of the trebles is represented in full glory, it lacks just a touch of upper treble emphasis to my ears. So it does seem to have a mild roll off for the upper trebles. This treble presentation is a great tuning decision for a closed back design which is really made for longer listening sessions in mind. Overall the trebles are detailed and clean yet easy on the ears which blends seamlessly with the mids of the OV21 presentation. I can tell the 45mm dynamic being used has a solid resolving ability due to the effortless details the OV21s throw out.

The Mids
Mids on the OV21 will be immediately familiar to Thinksound fans and here is where some of Aarons tuning prowess really comes through. I'm not gonna lie folks the OV21 has bass emphasis like all of thinksound phones. How Aaron manages to get an absolute superb full range mids character with this much quality bass is magic. Mids here are not forward in the mix but certainly not distant sounding either. Mids presents with a superb depth and images to a degree better than anything Thinksound has ever done in the past. Mids do take a slight step back in the mix vs the bass and slightly to the treble end but done extremely well.I have yet to hear a Thinksound product with a weakness or a deficiency in any part of the sound tuning. If anything the tuning truly portrays each part of the sound tuning to be present which helps bring the OV21 sound quality to a new level of immersion.

Lower mids sound a step back from upper mids, perhaps a bit of a trade off for the full bass end. If you're into your intimate vocal presentations the OV21s is not the best for vocals but makes up for it with superb spot on natural tonality and timbral accuracy. Its rich grander spacious sound presentation surrounds you with your favorite tracks and their fundamental rich tonal presentation is very versatile for just about any genre. Clarity, precision with very good instrument separation all presented within a substantial layering in the mids sound absolutely superb for fans of older rock, metal, jazz, pop anything with instruments. Showing true versatility. They sound awesome for bass genres.

It is the mids definition with that rich tonal character being projected via larger 45mm dynamic encased in woody cups that brings their classic Thinksound sound to a different level. Your music will sound bold with macro details abound, It does a stunning job at recreating the scene of the recorded track. The OV21 true trump card is just how great it does at getting you into your music with an excellent full rangy dynamic high end sound quality.

When listening to this track using the OV21. Its sound layering, instrument separation and superb details will win you over to how good these cans portray every part of your tracks to the fullest.

Bass
So here is another aspect where the the OV21 makes a jump from their previous phones. Thinksound would not be Thinksound without that bass. Seriously I know for a fact Aaron is a basshead. Even their monitor series of earphones had great bass presence. But let the mad genius let loose on a full range 45mm dynamic driver in a closed woody cup and you have the best bass presentation the group has ever done.

So I am gonna tell you all the disclaimer here. For folks that like them some neutrality or has an affinity to like the low end to play a supporting roll for your sound cus it might be too much for your precious mids and treble..You need to look elsewhere. For the rest of you folks that love them some low end soul and demand a proper grunt when hearing your tunes. Read on my fellow bass fans as these cans are for you.

Bass presentation of the OV21 is, you guessed it. Rich, not like your uncle that owns all them properties but in tonal character. You see an underlying theme here. Make no mistake you're dealing with a high quality detailed emphasized bass presentation. If your tracks have some lower grunt for the basis for the track. You're gonna hear the low end in its full glory. And no we are not talking about a sloppy slow mushy messy stuff you read about in much lesser cans.

Let me put it this way. You're walking around a busy street and you land on this track.

You want that low end punch to be tight and speedy, you want Dimebag Darrel’s (RIP) guitar riffs to grind on your ears. You want to hear that pure aggression from Phil Anselmo to tighten the back of your neck. You want Vinnie Paul (RIP) to punch out your eardrums with his speedy punchy double drum work and feel that thump..You can’t have a limp noodle bass line here.

But at the same time you can’t have a bass line that can’t do this track justice as Prodigy don’t sound like Prodigy when you Breathe and be walking enjoying a cuppa joe at your local Starbucks.

OV21 has a bold meaty bass presentation. While there is a good amount of bass presence it is the quality of just how great the bass end is on the OV21 that stands out to me. Its not your standard T bone. We are talking grass fed pure angus. If you're gonna have bass in the mix you better bring the quality or it will get the reject from this reviewer. Bass fans are going to dig the guilty pleasure that is the OV21 bass end. Bass tonality is spot on, Juicy in nature. For having as much bass emphasis it's got control and power in the low end that you will not soon forget. The bass presentation alone is worth the price of admission for a set of OV21.

Sub bass has no roll off and you're going to hear sub bass the way it was meant to be heard for the low end grunt that is on the OV21.

The last thing you want when using these on the street is something to interfere with that powerful low end of the OV21 quality bass presentation. You move to your music. How about using a can that will help you do that.

Technicalities.
Headphone stage is different from the more intimate IEM presentation as you all know so going from something like a 10mm dynamic in ears to a 45mm over the ears presents with a different scope of sound. OV21 has a well imaged specious sound signature and for being a closed can It has a moderate amount of stage width wise with good depth and height. I hope to see a continuation of the headphone series here with a semi open or open back headphone with even a wider stage someday. But for now you can’t get this type of bass the OV21 has without the closed in cups playing a roll here. Sound separation is done nicely for being a closed can and while the technicalities are not the absolute tops for closed cans you really can’t do imaging much better than what's presented on the OV21. Its imaging is a clear stand out for the sound tuning and add one of the best defined dynamic sound tunings Aaron has done and you get a substantial close back headphone in the OV21.


So there you have it.
The OV21 represents years of real world tuning and knowledge by a nice guy that produces some serious sounding equipment for you the enthusiast. That saying nice guys finish last. Is not true here. Aarons new OV21 is going to be a winner and I can see a scenario where everyone that loves great sounding headphones will want to get a pair of the OV21. I personally feel it punches above its asking price in performance. Like I mentioned before, bass is one of those guilty pleasure aspects to sounds that just let you know. Thinksound loves a warm quality tight bottom. But then you get some outstanding full rangy mids and a cleanly defined treble end to round out the new high mark for phones for the group.


Bonus cus you want to know. How do they compare to the ON2?
I am glad you asked.. Vs the ON2

First thing that jumps at you right away is the stage presentation. The OV21 has a more expansive spacious sound; it sounds more grander, more surround-like with a wider taller deeper stage. ON2 balancing leans a bit more toward a monitor type presentation. The OV21 is more musical meaning it has a bit more coloration to the sound balancing. More bass impact with a deeper reaching bass. That rich tonality of the two headphones you can tell are brothers from the same mother. OV21 has better technicalities. Beyond the stage it has better instrument separation which is easier to hear due to the grander wider stage presentation, which leads to an imaging that is again more surround-like.

Both headphones timbre from vocals and instruments are similar with a rich tonal quality. ON2 shows just a bit better clarity due to having less bass in its presentation with a bit more treble. The mids emphasis is also a touch more forward for the ON2. Since the OV21 has more bass it might not sound as forward for the mids as it is presented on the ON2 especially for bassy tracks. That slightly more treble energy of the ON2 is put on the low end of the OV21 with a grander sound projection and you have Thinksounds first full sized can. As always bless you for reading this long winded read about the OV21. You made it this far. That means you’re the best. Happy and healthy listening always.